Sep 16, 2022

into the woods

{listen to my audio recording of this post}

Sometimes, creativity reflects back to me something inside of me that hasn't fully surfaced yet. The things that are swirling around in my head like the lines of a spinning record, blurring past.

I wonder if you've ever had the experience of taking a moment to look over everything you've created lately only to realize a theme has emerged and every expression seems to point back to it. And I think- perhaps my inner voice is trying to send a subliminal message because I'm too busy to hear it otherwise.

The last few weeks have been quite a blur, and something that's made itself known is an underlying feeling of being "in the woods", unable to "see the forest for the trees."

So, I'm thinking about maps and what to do when I don't have one. What it means to navigate uncharted terrain in healthier, more considered ways than you were ever taught. How to forge new routes from well-established neural pathways, even when it all goes against the grain and it'd be far easier to fall back into the current and let it carry you back to familiar patterns.

However much I find the woods comforting, they can be frightening, too. With their shadows and wildness and mysteries, and where there's always a chance you might lose your way. But these things are not enough to deter me from venturing in and loving them dearly. But, to do so means taking care, being prepared, learning new skills, and practicing them until they become second-nature, forming new pathways and currents that lead to better outcomes.

The other day, after talking through one of my illustrations to process some things, my therapist remarked with kind amusement, "Your life is art therapy," and I smiled.

Thank goodness for that.

♡ Kimberly Kuniko

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